'Joke' turns sour for Rhode Island College professor

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A practical joke between college professors has resulted in a criminal charge against one of them for causing a building at Rhode Island College to be evacuated.

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By
Thomas J. Morgan
Posted Oct. 4, 2013 @ 3:22 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A practical joke between college professors has resulted in a criminal charge against one of them for causing a building at Rhode Island College to be evacuated.

Professor Gary Grund pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct Friday and was released pending a District Court hearing on Oct. 17.

Major David Lapatin of the Providence police said Friday that police officers and firefighters were summoned to the Craig Lee Building on the RIC campus Sept. 23 after Professor Michael Michaud opened a letter and found a white powder inside. The letter had the inscription "Ted/supermax" on it, and other lettering was spelled out with letters clipped from some article and pasted on.

Lapatin said it would turn out later that Grund and Michaud had discussed the case of Ted Kaczynski, the unabomber, who is now in a supermax prison after a bombing spree that lasted several years.

He said that after a few minutes of reflection, Michaud told investigators that the letter might have come as a practical joke from another professor. When investigators questioned Grund, Lapatin said, Grund said, "Yes, that was me. It was a practical joke. It's only sugar."

Lapatin said, "That was a very dangerous thing to do. Police and firefighters responded. People were evacuated. Someone could have gotten hurt."

Nanci Martin, a spokeswoman for RIC, said the college investigated, but she could not comment on a personnel issue.†